In a Vase on Monday: Stuffed to the gills

The dahlias in my cutting garden are still relatively plentiful but, as many of the new blooms are side shoots growing on slender stems, they tend to collapse before I'm ready to cut them.  Hence my decision to stuff my vase with the flowers of three different dahlias.

Dahlia 'Punkin Spice' got the starring role

The back of the vase was filled out with Dahlias 'Terracotta' and 'Labyrinth'

Top view

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Punkin Spice', Duranta repens 'Gold Mound', Leucadendron salignum 'Chief', Dahlia 'Labyrinth', D. 'Terracotta', and Zinnia elegans

In search of additional flowers for that first vase, I paid my first visit to my back slope in a month or more.  It's a mess and it needed tending well before now but, after two run-ins in a row with fire ants down there, I kept finding excuses to avoid the area.  Piles of lemons are rotting under the tree, which is seriously in need of harvesting, and burned-out Centranthus and other plants are in need of pruning.  I made a start before turning to attention to the flowering crossvine that drew me down there in the first place.

Flowers of the crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) open with a tangerine color but quickly turn pinkish and I decided they'd look better with Dahlia 'Otto's Thrill' than the vivid red-orange of 'Punkin Spice'

Back view: I filled out the vase with pink zinnias and the flowers of what I think is English ivy (Hedera helix).  The ivy is an invasive pest in Southern California.  I'm constantly cutting the plants that creep across our property line on the south side, as well as the ivy on my upper slope, inherited with the garden.

Top view: The crossvine is also a pest.  While its massive trunk sits on our property, it was planted by a neighbor long before we purchased the property and it's woven through her fencing.  The flowers are pretty but the vine is a monster to control.

Clockwise from the upper left: Dahlia 'Otto's Thrill', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Hedera flowers, Bignonia capreolata (aka crossvine), and pink varieties of Zinnia elegans

I hope to get back to work on the back slope today or tomorrow while our temperatures are on the cool side.  The roofers will be back today and the painters are expected to be back to finish spray-lacquering my kitchen cabinets as well - facing the fire ants may well be preferable to their combined auditory assault.

For more IAVOM creations, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

All material © 2012-2019 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: One hot, one soft

It hasn't been really hot here yet so, despite the fact that the official start of summer is just days away, the garden is still flush with blooms.  I'd originally planned to cut some blue flowers but they weren't what called to me when I stepped into the garden on Sunday to make my selections for "In a Vase on Monday," the weekly challenge hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden focused on creating arrangements from materials found in one's own garden.  The hot corals, oranges and reds drew me and I ended up with an arrangement that practically sizzles.  I started off with stems of Grevillea 'Superb', a shrub that literally blooms year-round in my garden.

As usual, I stuffed my vase fuller than I'd originally intended but there's a LOT in this color range in my garden

The tubular Bignonia capreolata were a last minute addition.  I'm not sure they'll last long in the vase but they do make a dramatic statement.

The Cuphea and Coleus are elements I don't commonly use in vases either

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Achillea 'Moonshine', A. millefolium 'Appleblossom', Bignonia capreolata, Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun', Grevillea 'Superb', and, in the center, Plectranthus scutellariodes 'Campfire' ( aka Coleus 'Campfire')

Blue flowers would have created a nice balance for the hot colors of my first vase but the dahlia I brought home from my local garden center two weeks ago is already sporting a number of mature blooms.  The heavy head of one unsupported flower had already broken its stem so I elected to feature Dahlia 'Otto's Thrill' again this week.  Upon close examination, I noticed that one of the dahlia stems had produced an odd double-headed bloom.

I should have photographed the mutant dahlia stem before I stuck it in a vase so you could see the fused stem leading up to the two-headed flower.  This appears to be yet another example of fasciation, similar to that I found in two of my Agapanthus stems last week.

The choice to cut the dahlia blooms also prompted me to cut the last of the snapdragons in my cutting garden.  After weeks of damp mornings due to persistent "June Gloom," the snapdragon foliage was covered in rust so they had to go.  Due to the cool weather we enjoyed in May and early June, I'd delayed clearing both the snapdragons and my sweet peas from my cutting garden, which in turn delayed planting many of my sunflower and zinnia seeds.  Hopefully, they'll still have adequate time to grow before the heat here becomes brutal.

In cutting the dahlia stems long, I gave up several ancillary buds but my hope is that this will prompt the plant to produce new stems

This is another instance in which I almost prefer the back of the vase to the side I'd designated as the front

Top view, showing that I also overstuffed this vase

Clockwise from the upper left, the vase contains: Dahlia 'Otto's Thrill', Abelia grandiflora, Antirrhinum majus, Leucanthemum x superbum' Dorycnium hirsutum, and Pandorea jasminoides

For more Monday vases, visit our host, Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

The "hot" vase sits on the dining room table and the "soft" vase in the front entry

All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Bloom Day - June 2018

Despite the heat that's been scorching some areas of Southern California and a flurry of wildfires across the Southwest US, we're still benefiting from an early morning marine layer most days here, which has held local temperatures down thus far.  I anticipate the situation is temporary but we're expecting below average temperatures (low 70sF) this weekend and I'm going to enjoy that while I can.  Summer flowers have begun showing up in earnest and the late spring blooms have yet to take cover from the heat so the garden is colorful to say the least.

Unequivocally, the stars of my June garden are Achillea 'Moonshine' and the Agapanthus.

I've lined both sides of the flagstone path in the middle of the back garden with 'Moonshine'.  On this side of the path, the yellow color is mirrored in the tiny blooms of Cotula 'Tiffendell Gold' and the foliage of Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'.

Clumps of Agapanthus are spread throughout the garden.  Most bloom in shades of blue but there are some white blooms too.

The front garden is especially colorful right now, as you can see from the photo on the left.  The highlights include: more Agapanthus, Gaura lindheimeri, Hemerocallis 'Spanish Harlem', Cuphea 'Starfire Pink' and Rosa 'Pink Meidiland'.

While the Echiums are fading, the daylilies are pumping out new blooms

Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira', shown here, is waning and I've already cut back the spent bloom spikes of Echium webbii (not shown) in the back garden

New blooms of (left to right) Hemerocallis 'Indian Giver', 'Plum Perfect' and 'Spanish Harlem' greet me every morning.  'Spanish Harlem' has been especially prolific this year despite our very dry winter.

Like the front garden, some areas of the garden are putting on an especially strong show this month.

The bed shown on the left sits outside my home office window.  Clockwise from the upper right, the blooming plants include: Grevillea 'Ned Kelly', Lantana camara 'Irene', Leucanthemum x superbum, Leucospermum 'Brandi', Lobelia laxiflora, the first ever bloom I've had on Melianthus major, and Phylica pubescens.

The arbor over the gate between my cutting garden and my dry garden is once again blanketed in blooms this June.  The photo on the left shows the view from the cutting garden and the photo on the upper right shows the view from the dry garden side.  The flowering plants include: Pandorea jasminoides, a dark pink flowered Pelargonium peltatum that's chosen to climb, and Trachelospermum jasminnoides.

On the back slope Bignonia capreolata is sprawling over property boundaries into two neighboring gardens (photos top and lower left).  It's a beautiful but aggressive plant.  I didn't put it in but its trunk sits on our property.  I believe the neighbor on our north side planted it as she'd originally gardened on our lower slope, believing it was part of her lot until a prior owner of our property had an official survey done.

A few other areas offer more subtle displays of color.

In addition to Catananche caerulea and Convolulus sabatius, there's some noID Brachyscome and thyme in the mix here

Crassula pubescens ssp radicans has filled in the areas between various agaves and aloes on the south side of the house

Penstemon x mexicali 'Carillo Purple' and Polygala fruticosa 'Petite Butterfly' provide subtle color echoes of one another here

And here are some other plants just too pretty to ignore.

NoID Anigozanthos

Arbutus 'Marina'

Eustoma grandiflorum (Lisianthus) - so far, most of the blooms have been produced by the blue-purple varieties.  This is 'Rosanne Black Pearl'.  It didn't flower well last year but the plants that lived to bloom a second year look better than the first year blooms.

Gaillardias 'Arizona Sun' (left) and 'Fanfare Citronella' (right)

Globularia x indubia - it's also known as Globe Daisy but I call it my hairy blue eyeball plant

Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights'

Magnolia grandiflora

Melaleuca thymifolia - the plant itself looks ungainly but the blooms are extraordinary

Romneya coulteri (aka Matilija Poppy), beloved by bees

I'll close with a few collages capturing the best of the rest.

Top row: Consolida ajacis, Erigeron glaucus 'Wayne Roderick', and Geranium incanum, a weed in an unreachable spot
Bottom row: Limonium perezii, Ozothamnus diosmifolius, and Plectranthus neochilus

Clockwise from the upper left: Alstroemeria 'Indian Summer', self-seeded Anagallis 'Wildcat Mandarin', Cotula 'Tiffendell Gold', Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid', Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream', Hunnemannia fumariifolia 'Sunlite', Hymenolepsis parviflora, Tagetes lemmonii, and, in the center, Grevillea 'Superb'

Top row: Abelia grandiflora, Antirrhinum majus, Cistus x skanbergii, and C. 'Sunset'
Middle row: Dorycnium hirsutum, Grevillea 'Scarlet Sprite', Hebe 'Wiri Blush', and Leptospermum scoparium 'Pink Pearl'
Bottom row: Mimulus 'Jelly Beans Crimson', Pelargonium peltatum, P. cucullatum 'Flore Pleno', and P. 'Pink Blizzard'

And a fond farewell to Lathyrus odoratus, the remains of which I pulled out of my cutting garden on Wednesday evening

For more Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts, visit our host, Carol of May Dreams Gardens.


All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Coral Color

My May favorites post focused on the coral and red colors in one of by backyard beds and I found I couldn't shake my preoccupation with that color palette when it came time to select plants for this week's vase.  I had friends over for lunch on Saturday so my vase was prepared Friday night and photographed Saturday morning this week so it'd be in position to greet my visitors when they arrived.

Front view

Back view

Top view

I didn't actually use any of the plants featured in my May favorites post.  There's plenty of material in the same color range scattered through other areas of the garden.  Here's a closer look at the individual elements:

Clockwise from the upper left: Grevillea 'Superb' (framed by Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'), Achillea 'Moonshine', Agonis flexuosa 'Nana', Bignonia capreolata, Euphorbia 'Dean's Hybrid', and Tanacetum niveum

And here's the finished product stationed opposite the front door:

For more flower and foliage creations, constructed from materials at the fingertips of participating gardeners, visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden, the host of "In a Vase on Monday."  For those of you in the US, best wishes for a wonderful holiday and the unofficial start of summer.


All material © 2012-2016 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

In a Vase on Monday: Who's the Star?

Another Hippeastrum bloomed recently so I got my chance to pick that as the centerpiece of this week's arrangement for "In a Vase on Monday," the weekly meme hosted by Cathy of Rambling in the Garden.  I knew that it might be a challenge to find appropriate companions for the pale yellowish green of the Hippeastrum's petals but I had some ideas in mind.  Unfortunately, most of the yellows in my garden were too bright so I focused on picking up the red tones in the petals' stripes.

The vibrant hues of some of the companion plants were strong enough to compete with the Hippeastrum.  Viewed from different angles, you could argue that other elements made a bigger splash.

Which flower would you say is the star of the arrangement?

Here's what I included:

• Hippeastrum cybister 'Emerald'
• Bignonia capreolata
• Coleonema pulchellum 'Sunset Gold'
• Erysimum linifolium 'Varigatum'
• Grevillea 'Ned Kelly'
• Grevillea 'Superb'
• Heuchera (noID)

Hippeastrum cybister 'Emerald' is a South American Amaryllis.  In my climate, Amaryllis can be grown outside - I planted 2 'Emerald' and 2 'La Paz' bulbs in my street-side border in 2013 in the hope that they'll naturalize.

I inherited this Bignonia capreolata vine with the house.  It sits at the bottom of the slope adjacent to 2 neighbor properties.  Although it produces beautiful flowers, I wouldn't have planted it as it gets very, very big and is nearly impossible to control.

Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' (aka 'Mason's Hybrid') has been in my garden less than one year but is already blooming prolifically.  Its flowers are similar to those of G. 'Superb,' only less robust and somewhat deeper in color.

This Grevillea 'Superb' flower has yet to reach its peak.

The arrangement ended up on the dining room table, replacing last week's arrangement, which was starting to fade.

I also had a few remaining flowers for another, smaller vase, which I placed in the guest bathroom.

This vase features Carpenteria californica and Argyranthemum frutescens 'Butterfly' 

Carpenteria is a California native that gets by with limited water on my back slope

Visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she's cooked up this week.


All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party